{"id":574231,"date":"2026-02-15T17:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T17:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/574231\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T17:56:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T17:56:13","slug":"jasson-dominguez-spencer-jones-address-being-blocked-by-yankees-vets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/574231\/","title":{"rendered":"Jasson Dom\u00ednguez, Spencer Jones address being blocked by Yankees\u2019 vets"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA \u2014 Jasson Dom\u00ednguez was ready for the questions as Yankees<\/a> position players officially reported to camp on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

The ones about his defense. The one\u2019s about his right-handed swing. And, of course, the ones about\u00a0Brian Cashman\u2019s recent concession<\/a>\u00a0that everyday reps are in the 23-year-old\u2019s \u201cbest interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comment made it clear that a season-opening demotion to Triple-A is on the table for Dom\u00ednguez, as veterans Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger are clogging the Yankees\u2019 outfield. One of them or designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton would have to get hurt for Dom\u00ednguez to have a path to regular playing time in the majors.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I hear all of that, but I try not to focus on that because there\u2019s spring training coming, and this is baseball,\u201d Dom\u00ednguez said of the chatter surrounding him, which also included some offseason trade rumors. \u201cA lot of things can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked specifically about Cashman\u2019s most recent comment and the possibility of starting the season in the minors, Dom\u00ednguez, coming off his first full major league campaign, added, \u201cAt the end of the day, depending on the situation, they gotta do what\u2019s best for the team. Whatever decision they make, I\u2019ll be ready for.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one thing that I can\u2019t control. I don\u2019t make the decisions, but I\u2019m gonna do my best to get the best results that I can get, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m focusing on right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dom\u00ednguez could compete with the uber-versatile Oswaldo Cabrera for the final spot on the Yankees\u2019 bench, but he\u2019s an imperfect fit to be the club\u2019s fourth outfielder. Dom\u00ednguez only plays left, and his defense has made him a liability up to this point.\u00a0The switch-hitter hasn\u2019t shown much from the right side<\/a>, either.<\/p>\n

Dom\u00ednguez worked on his defense and righty swing throughout the offseason, playing winter ball in his native Dominican Republic and making his way to the Yankees\u2019 Tampa-based player development complex on Jan. 15. He feels improved in both regards and mentioned how winter ball exposed him to some experienced players and different hitting and defensive philosophies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that can help me and a lot of players, to see things differently,\u201d Dom\u00ednguez said.<\/p>\n

The Martian also said he benefitted mentally from being in a bench role last season. He entered 2025 as the Yankees\u2019 starting left fielder, but he became a seldom-used backup as his deficiencies became clear and Grisham enjoyed a breakout season.<\/p>\n

Dom\u00ednguez noted that he was especially lucky that the Yankees traded for Amed Rosario last summer, as the veteran and fellow countryman\u00a0helped him adjust to his reserve role<\/a>. Rosario, re-signed over the winter and given a spring training locker next to Dom\u00ednguez, taught the younger player to be ready for any opportunity.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a lesson that Dom\u00ednguez can apply now.<\/p>\n

So can Spencer Jones, another young Yankees outfielder who Cashman said is \u201cblocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

The general manager added that the prospect, turning 25 in May and yet to make his MLB debut, could compete for a starting gig in some other organizations. But Jones is behind Dom\u00ednguez on the depth chart \u2014 not that that can\u2019t change this spring \u2014 and would also likely need someone to get hurt for regular reps to open up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my mind, this is the best organization to play for,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIf opportunities come later, I think it\u2019s for good reason, and that we\u2019re trying to help the team win the World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones is coming off a power-heavy season that was split between Double-A and Triple-A and briefly interrupted by back spasms, but his swing-and-miss tendencies and lack of in-zone contact remain a concern for the 6-7 left-handed hitter. He did his best to address that in the offseason, settling on a stance that he believes will lead to more consistency and working to refine his barrel path.<\/p>\n

Jones did some of that work with former Rockies minor leaguer Will Haynie. Haynie, who runs H2 Baseball in Tennessee, first connected with Jones a few years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a lot of simple moves,\u201d Jones said of Haynie\u2019s advice. \u201cIt\u2019s different stuff that I learned. A lot of it is kind of based on what Judge does with Teacherman [Hitting]. It\u2019s kind of the same realm of hitting. So it\u2019s trying to dial in those moves, make things work well, work quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones also said that he improved his speed \u2014 he stole 29 bases last year \u2014 and worked on all three outfield positions. The latter could give him an edge if there is an injury in the Yankees\u2019 outfield since the organization doesn\u2019t view Dom\u00ednguez as a capable center fielder.<\/p>\n

But Jones has yet to play in the majors. Is he ready to?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m as confident as anybody in this room,\u201d Jones said when asked. \u201cIt\u2019s just about going out there and proving it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 Jasson Dom\u00ednguez was ready for the questions as Yankees position players officially reported to camp on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2376],"tags":[5,3289,4,1690,62,2548,2547,5055,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-574231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-yankees","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-jasson-dominguez","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-yankees","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkyankees","15":"tag-spencer-jones","16":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116075940171660405","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}